It Changed My Life

There has been wrap up after wrap up post on the RootsTech Conference and I have held off writing mine because I needed to process everything that I saw, heard and felt.

I hate the saying “it changed my life” because that is so cliché and 1992. But, truthfully? It did. Or rather, it changed my heart.

What I was unprepared for was the testimony that I gained of Family History.

I was unprepared to learn how Family History is NOT about just saving the Dead, but about saving the Living as well. Those two things go hand in hand. When a person starts learning about their family, and their stories, their heart starts to change. The Dead save the Living, too. They save us from ourselves, our selfishness and our pride.

I was shocked when I started to realize that, and I could feel a paradigm shift taking place. Changing my way of thinking—the thinking beyond the whole “Take A Name to the Temple” part of Family History was something that I had to process. I had never thought about how Family History could save my LIVING Family or how it could literally save Me from Myself.

I have a new found understanding, and testimony of the phrase we so often hear: “Turning the Hearts . . . “ I am still processing that, but you can bet your monkey I’ll be writing up a post on it soon.

I have found my mind racing with questions: How can we change people’s impressions of Family History? How can we get people to see that Family History isn’t boring? How can we help people understand that Family History isn’t just for Oldsters anymore? How can we get them to understand that the Living History is just as important? How can we get people to see that anyone can do it, and that it’s not hard, and you don’t just have to chase numbers and dates?

Caroline and I have had numerous discussions about this topic—trying to figure out how we can help you come to understand your role in Family History and we have decided to do a few things:

We will show you how you can participate in 30 minutes or less, on a regular basis, and we will write posts about how you can accomplish this.

We will show you products and ways that you can record your Living Histories—which is just as important as the history of the dead.

We will help you learn about ways that you can serve—adults, youth and children—and experience that change of heart that is so often referenced in the scriptures.

I promise you this: Your eyes won’t glaze over, nor will you want to click that X up there in the corner. And, you just might start to feel that MightyChange of Heart.